The Haunting of Bly Manor numbed me in the best way a ghost story can. Based on Henry James’s stories, particularly The Turn of the Screw, it’s a slow burn that leaves you broken with grief and longing, haunted by where the ghosts in our lives may linger.
I rewatched it recently, and the haunting still stings. Why? Because the series leans into its Victorian foundation and lets us breathe in the same walls as the characters. It’s cozy but curious, unsettling, and suspicious, and speaks something worth thinking about: that the eerie remnants of lives past are just as confused as we are. Why did they end up where they ended up, and how do they get out, if they even want to? Who’s pulling the strings or turning the key?
From Director Mike Flanagan, The Haunting of Bly Manor is, in my opinion, one of his finest works of psychological horror.
Dani Clayton accepts a position to care for two orphaned children at England’s Bly Manor. She discovers the estate is haunted by both the spirits unknowingly trapped within it and a tragic story that swallowed its once-peaceful walls. Dani grows closer to the manor’s staff and begins to expose the house for what it is: a gothic tragedy.
It’s a ghost story mixed with a love story that meditates on memory and the way the dead pull long after they should. Memories and heartache can be just as spooky as bumps in the night.
We discussed this series at one of the Library’s recent Horror/Thriller book club meeting, and here is what one attendee had to say about it:
“The Haunting of Bly Manor isn’t typical horror. It is a haunting love story wrapped in grief and memory. Dani and Jamie’s relationship gives the series its emotional core, while the Lady of the Lake is genuinely terrifying and lingers in your mind long after the series ends. [The Haunting of Bly Manor] relies more on uncanny imagery like faceless ghosts and a sense of impending doom. I still find myself thinking about the series because of the lasting emotional impact it had on me.
This is a series that’s so powerful that it demands a second and third watch because its emotional core and intrigue is so in tune with the labyrinths of human emotion. I felt my feelings while also being terrified. That’s not easy to do. The relationships built in this series will never leave my mind, and that’s where Bly Manor breaks expectations.
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Comment below your thoughts once you’ve had a watch (or if you already have).
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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant
Hoboken Library Staff Picks 
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